Thursday, September 11, 2014

T.J. Lane, who was serving three life sentences for a notorious high school shooting spree, escaped tonight from an Ohio prison, officials said.

Lane, who is now 19, broke out of the Allen Correctional Facility along with another prisoner, Clifford Opperud, 45.

Officials are warning residents of Lima, Ohio, near the prison to not open doors to strangers or pick up hitchhikers. A police dragnet was moving through the town and police asked residents not to tweet the location of officers.

While Obamacare was implemented to help the little guy, that hasn't been the case, according to a study from the American Action Forum, a center-right think tank.

The report found that the Affordable Care Act is cutting small-business workers' pay by at least $22.6 billion a year. And it calculates that Obamacare has eliminated 350,000 jobs. The study defines a small business as one that employs 20 to 99 workers.

"The relationship between rising premiums and lower pay was already well known in academic literature," the report states. "Our research simply measured how the ACA has affected the relationship between health-insurance premiums, small-business wages, and employment."

Maryland may be moving a step closer to cutting the high cost of textbooks.

The average American student pays about $1,200 a year for books alone. An experiment currently underway is turning up some hopeful results. In effect, professors would be encouraged to put class material online, instead of charging students hundreds of dollars for a printed textbook.

The cost of a college education goes beyond tuition, fees, and room and board. In the spring, the University System of Maryland tried its hand at something called Maryland Open Source Textbook. About a dozen faculty members took part in the experiment, and their students saved about $1,030.

"This is entirely in lieu of existing textbooks," said M.J. Bishop, director of the Center for Academic Innovation.

Americans have a right to bear arms. They have a right to free speech. But a right to farm?

Missouri voters and interest groups are locked in a battle over that very question, as some farmers say they need to secure that right in response to animal rights advocates and others that want to restrict the way their profession is done.

Missouri voters in August approved a measure that would enshrine the right to farm in the state constitution. However, it passed by such a narrow margin, a recount is now underway.

Missouri's secretary of state is expected to announce the results of the recount on Monday, and farmers across the country will be watching closely to determine whether similar measures should be passed in their states.

The question has meanwhile created a major divide that has split urban and rural residents, and in some cases pitted farmer against farmer.

Laurel-The Delaware State Police were called to assist the U.S. Marshals Service with a criminal investigation in Laurel, Delaware after a male suspect suffered an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Preliminary investigation has determined that the incident occurred on Thursday, September 11, 2014 at approximately 6:48 p.m. as the US Marshals Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force (CARFTF) was operating in Delaware, conducting a criminal investigation attempting to locate 2 suspects at a residence in the 31000 block of White Street, Laurel.

During the investigation, the CARFTF was able to take an adult female suspect into custody. Task Force members heard a gunshot fired from within the residence. The CARFTF was unable to make contact with the adult male suspect located inside of the residence.

The CARFTF contacted the Delaware State Police for assistance. Troopers arrived and set up a perimeter around the house. At approximately 8:00 p.m. the Delaware State Police Special Operations Response Team made entry into the house and located the male suspect who suffered an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. A Trooper Medic assigned to the Special Operations Response Team immediately provided emergency medical care. The male was flown by Delaware State Police Aviation Helicopter Trooper 2 to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Maryland in critical condition.

The Delaware State Police continue to investigate this incident.

All inquiries as to the criminal investigation by the CARFTF can be directed to the U.S. Marshals Service.

Secret Service officers apprehended a man who jumped over a White House fence on Thursday and appeared to be heading toward presidential residence.

Officers with guns drawn ordered the man to lie down. The Secret Service said the man was in custody Thursday night.

"There are frequent protests outside the White House gates, so it initially seemed like nothing," said Fox News' Ed Henry, who was preparing to shoot a segment on the North Lawn at the time of the incident. "But just seconds before air, we heard Secret Service officers shouting at someone who appeared to have jumped the White House fence -- as literally dozens of tourists started sprinting away from the fence and toward Lafayette Park for safety -- and officers with extremely large assault weapons started circling the North Lawn in defensive posture. Very large police dogs also started barking and were ready to pounce."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has asked hundreds of victims of 2012's Superstorm Sandy to return nearly $6 million paid as compensation, and thousands more could be asked to do the same.

The Associated Press reports that as of early September, FEMA had asked around 850 aid recipients to return a collective $5.8 million. Approximately 3,600 other cases were still under review.

Many people asked to return money were deemed ineligible because their damaged properties were vacation houses or rental properties, not their primary residences. Others had double dipped into the aid pool, with more than one household member getting payments. Some received FEMA money for things later covered by insurance.

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Chuck Todd, the newly minted moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” warned President Barack Obama’s foreign policy won’t just take a toll on his presidency in the polls, but will have an effect on the entire Democratic Party.

“It's not just him,” Todd said. “It's actually impacting the entire party. We did some issue testing between you know, who handles which issues – Democrats, Republicans. We took out Obama. Republicans lead by 38 points on the issue of ensuring a strong defense. He's on the precipice of doing Jimmy Carter-like damage to the Democratic brand on foreign policy.”

BALTIMORE (AP) -- A Maryland court barred a judge from hearing cases after the state's chief public defender complained the judge ordered a court security officer to shock a defendant.

Public Defender Paul DeWolfe said in a news release last month that he received a transcript of the incident July 23 in Charles County Circuit Court. DeWolfe quoted it as saying Judge Robert Nalley ordered the shocking as the defendant argued in court and the transcript reads, "DEFENDANT SCREAMS."

The Maryland Court of Appeals rescinded Nalley's ability to hear cases Friday. Its order does not state a reason other than "good cause having been shown."

A letter sent to Attorney General Eric Holder from Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa yesterday and first reported byBreitbart's Jonathan Strong reveals the Department of Justice works with Democrats on Capitol Hill to manipulate stories about the ongoing IRS targeting scandal.

The short version of the story is this: Holder's high ranking communications aide Brian Fallon accidentally called the Majority Office of the House Oversight Committee on behalf of the DOJ public affairs division to talk about leaking IRS info to a few friendly reporters. Fallon wanted to leak the info before Issa had the chance to get ahead of the news, further spinning the overall scandal through the media. Fallon thought he was talking to minority staffers, Democrats working for Minority Leader Elijah Cummings, on the House Oversight Committee. Oops. More from Strong:

The aide, Brian Fallon, is a former senior aide to Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and a well-known personality on Capitol Hill. The letter describes Fallon as “audibly shaken” when he realizes his request to leak documents to help get ahead of news stories about them was mistakenly made to the very office he was seeking to undermine. Issa believes the call was intended to be made to Democratic Rep. Elijah Cumming's staff, the ranking member on the oversight panel, the letter said.

According to the letter, Fallon – who is not named in the letter but confirmed he made the call – asked if the aides could release the IRS scandal documents to “selected reporters” to give Fallon an “opportunity to comment publicly on it.”

Fallon explained to Issa aides that the Justice Department's Office of Legislative Affairs had not permitted him to release the documents to the public and he wanted to get ahead of the story “before the Majority” – meaning Issa – could share it, according to the letter. You can read the letter here. The latest IRS revelations include the Department of Justice hiding a key witness in the targeting scandal.

A Maryland man alleged to have cocaine on his face and clothes and be driving while drunk was arrested after he told an officer he thought he was in Chicago, a Maryland State Police spokesman said on Wednesday.

Artis Ray Gordon, 69, of Baltimore, was arrested on Friday night when a state trooper responded to a car accident outside of Baltimore, the spokesman said.

A trooper found Gordon sitting behind the wheel of his car with the engine running. He noticed "a trail of a white powdery substance, suspected cocaine, on his nose and around his nostrils, around his mouth and chin, on the front of his shirt and the front of his pants," according to charging documents

Gordon's speech was slurred and he appeared disoriented, the documents said.

Editors Note: This article was the lead on The Daily Signal, the news and information site of the Heritage Foundation. We reprint here.

The Internal Revenue Service, already under investigation for illegally targeting conservative and tea party groups, recently audited the conservative Breitbart News Network in a move that the company says was politically motivated.

The IRS sought the company’s financial records from 2012, Fox News reportedearlier today. Brietbart.com relaunched that year with a more robust reporting team. Over the past two years, it has produced hard-hitting stories exposing scandals in the Obama administration.

The news drew a swift reaction from Breitbart’s leaders and prompted Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, to fire off a letter to the IRS demanding answers about the audit.

“For the IRS to behave like a partisan political organization, targeting media organizations whose views differ from the president’s, would represent a gross abuse of power,” Cruz said. “It would undermine the statutory mission and integrity of the IRS. And it would likely subject IRS employees to criminal prosecution.”

Cruz said the IRS’ recent track record made the action against Breitbart “highly questionable.”

For more than a year, the agency has faced scrutiny for its illegal targeting of conservative and tea party groups seeking nonprofit status. The IRS also recently agreed to pay a $50,000 fine for wrongfully leaking the National Organization for Marriage’s confidential tax information.

Breitbart’s leaders said they wouldn’t cower under the threat of an IRS audit.

Every week another lad or lass from St. Louis, Toronto or Sydney makes the trip through Turkey to the Islamic State. A reporter dispatched by a local paper to talk to the neighbors scribbles down the same recollections about how nice and normal Jihad Joe or Jihad Jane was.

Classmates remember a loud partier or a shy student. Neighbors mention that everything seemed normal until those last few years when he began wearing a robe and she began wearing a burka.

The Somali and Algerian immigrants, the German and American converts, the black burkas and dyed beards, headed into the dying summer to kill Christians and Kurds, Turkmen and Shiites, to behead babies and crucify critics, don’t seem like monsters.

A Republican senator plans to introduce legislation to close what he calls a welfare “loophole” after the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed it had “no authority” to prohibit recipients from using their benefit cards at marijuana stores in states where pot is legal.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., released a letter he received over the summer from HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell. In it, the secretary said that while Washington can punish states for letting welfare recipients use benefits at liquor stores and casinos and strip clubs, marijuana stores were “not included” on the list of establishments where the benefits are banned.

“The federal government [currently] spends roughly $750 billion each year on means-tested welfare programs across 80 different accounts,” Sessions said in a statement. “This money is administered by a vast, sprawling bureaucracy with little oversight and no moral vision. Surely we can all agree that the guiding principle ought to be that benefits are reserved for those in real need.”

(CNSNews.com) – Dr. Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon and the author of six best-selling books, said the Islamic State wants to destroy Western civilization and establish a caliphate and that its “convert-or-die doctrine” mirrors some of the ideas pushed by the “political-correctness police” in America.

“Our enemies’ desire to establish a caliphate is no joke,” said Dr. Carson in a Sept. 6 commentary. “Their convert-or-die doctrine parallels some of the social philosophies enforced by the political-correctness police in this country.”

“Either you accept their interpretation of what is moral and correct, or the name-calling starts, and they attempt to destroy your business or reputation,” he said. “We despise the Islamic State, but do not see the same ugliness in our own tactics. The truth hurts, and it is much easier to ignore it or try to demonize its bearer.”

ACCUSED: Stacey Lynn Dean JesterCHARGES: Burglary 2nd Degree, Attempted Theft Less than $100, Burglary 4th Degree, Malicious Destruction of Property, Theft $1,000 to under $10,000, and Escape – 2nd Degree.NARRATIVE: On September 10, 2014, the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation was conducting a follow-up investigation into numerous burglaries and thefts that occurred in Worcester County in August 2014. During the investigation, Detectives found that the suspect, Stacey Lynn Dean Jester, had previously sold electronics to a business in West Ocean City. Detectives responded to the business, and were informed that Jester had in fact previously sold numerous televisions, cell phones, and a laptop computer to the business. Detectives were also informed that Jester had just called and advised that she was on her way with an additional laptop computer that she wanted to sell. Detectives were aware that Jester was already wanted on outstanding arrest warrants through the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office and the Ocean City Police Department.

Detectives, as well as members of the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, responded to the business in order to apprehend Jester. Jester was observed arriving to the business in a black vehicle, which contained two additional occupants, identified as Nicole C. Shortlidge and Jamie Esham. Jester went into the business and was followed by a Detective, at which time she was apprehended on the warrants.

After being placed under arrest and placed in hand cuffs, Jester was brought to a Worcester County Sheriff’s Office marked patrol vehicle in order to be transported to the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office for processing. While at the vehicle, Jester attempted to flee from officers while hand cuffed, but was apprehended after a brief foot pursuit.

During conversation with Jester, it was discovered that Jester had syringes and paraphernalia for heroin usage in the vehicle. Shortlidge and Esham, who had been detained in the vehicle, acknowledged that they were aware of the syringes being present in the vehicle. A probable cause search was conducted, at which time officers located several syringes, spoons, and other paraphernalia indicative of heroin usage in the passenger compartment of the vehicle. Interviews were conducted with all of the occupants, at which time Jester, Shortlidge, and Esham all admitted to possession of several the items, many of which still contained trace amounts of heroin.

Shortlidge and Esham were charged with Possession of Heroin and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and were transported to the District Court Commissioner where they were both ordered Released on Personal Recognizance.

Jester was charged with the arrest warrants, one for Burglary 2nd Degree and related offenses and the other for Theft $1,000 to under $10,000, and Escape – 2nd Degree. Additional charges are expected on Jester pending further investigation. Jester was ordered Released on Personal Recognizance for the Escape 2nd Degree charge, held without bond on the Burglary 2nd Degree, and held on $10,000 bond for the Theft warrant. Jester was transported to the Worcester County Jail pending a bond review and trial. INVESTIGATING DETECTIVE: Detective Jason BurnettSUPERVISING INVESTIGATOR: Detective Sgt. Mike Lupiwok

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources finalized the 2014-2015 late waterfowl seasons after reviewing all public comment and consulting with members of the Wildlife Advisory Commission and Migratory Game Bird Advisory Committee.

The highlights include:

Youth waterfowl hunting days on November 1, 2014 and February 7, 2015;

Regular duck hunting season segments October 11-18, November 8-28 and December 16-January 24, with a daily bag limit of six;

Migratory Atlantic Population Canada goose hunting segments November 22-28 and December 16-February 4, with a daily bag limit of two; and

All migratory game bird hunters, including landowners who are license-exempt, must purchase the Maryland Migratory Game Bird Stamp/HIP Permit. All waterfowl hunters 16 and older must also possess the Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (federal duck stamp), which must be signed in ink across the face. Hunters buying the federal stamp online may use the purchase code or printed receipt to show proof of purchase for 45 days. Hunters will receive their stamp in the mail from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within this time frame.More

The Spanish government is militarizing gearing up for violent protests against the EU that are expected to turn up before a hot autumn. Spain is now equipping the police with about one billion euros with new combat equipment. Violent protests in Spain since the crisis began almost a daily occurrence. Movements such as 25 de Mayo or the Indignados call Spaniards of all strata of the population to protest against the government on the streets. The police will always respond violently. They cover up their brutal responses by banning any video of police beatings making it a crime in itself. This is certainly illustrating the loss of freedom and any democratic process within Europe. The police scandals have only charged the atmosphere within the population and we may see this erupt into civil war as we move forward.

Governments from around the world admit they’ve used the bully’s trick … attack first, and then blame the victim:

A major with the Nazi SS admitted at the Nuremberg trials that – under orders from the chief of the Gestapo – he and some other Nazi operatives faked attacks on their own people and resources which they blamed on the Poles, to justify the invasion of Poland. Nazi general Franz Halder also testified at the Nuremberg trials that Nazi leader Hermann Goering admitted to setting fire to the German parliament building, and then falsely blaming the communists for the arson

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev admitted in writing that the Soviet Union’s Red Army shelled the Russian village of Mainila in 1939 – while blaming the attack on Finland – as a basis for launching the “Winter War” against Finland

Israel admits that an Israeli terrorist cell operating in Egypt planted bombs in several buildings, including U.S. diplomatic facilities, then left behind “evidence” implicating the Arabs as the culprits (one of the bombs detonated prematurely, allowing the Egyptians to identify the bombers, and several of the Israelis later confessed) (and see this and this)

The CIA admitsthat it hired Iranians in the 1950′s to pose as Communists and stage bombings in Iran in order to turn the country against its democratically-elected prime minister

The British Prime Minister admitted [21] to his defense secretary that he and American president Dwight Eisenhower approved a plan in 1957 to carry out attacks in Syria and blame it on the Syrian government as a way to effect regime change

The Obama administration has sent none of these children home. Instead, federal officials have chosen to set aside normal immigration practices and to allow this wave of young illegal immigrants to apply for green cards via asylum applications and to disperse across the country.

With school now in session, these kids have enrolled in public schools nationwide.

Talk about your southern strategy ... Bloomberg explains why we are seeing mostly female Democrat candidates in the South and somehow manages to avoid pointing out how absolutely cynical it is, if not downright sexist. Most certainly, it's a form of gender-based discrimination when it comes to picking candidates.It worked six years ago when the party recruited Kay Hagan to defeat Republican Senator Elizabeth Dole in North Carolina and Senator Mary Landrieu won a third term in Louisiana, both with outsized support from women voters.

Now Democrats are applying that model in Kentucky, where Alison Lundergan Grimes is trying to oust Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Georgia, where Michelle Nunn is seeking to replace retiring Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss. Both have made an appeal to women voters a centerpiece of their campaigns.

Congressional Republicans keep saying they oppose Obamacare. Yet they’re refusing to take the simplest and easiest action against it.

The way the law is designed, insurance companies get taxpayer subsidies if they incur big losses on the exchanges. That guarantee has encouraged them to participate in the exchanges. It has also enabled them to charge lower premiums, since they do not have to cover their risks.

Republicans could force supporters of Obamacare to defend these taxpayer subsidies by advancing legislation to stop them, as Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) and Representative Tim Griffin (R., Ark.) have proposed. But their colleagues are balking.

In part, that’s because of disagreement about how to proceed. The “risk corridors” that protect insurers from big losses have two potential funding sources: tax payments from other insurers, and general tax revenue. The question is whether to abolish the risk corridors altogether or end the ability to tap general revenues. Our preference is to do the latter. It’s fine for participating insurers to pool their risks, but taxpayers should not have any exposure for their aggregate losses.

"As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be aware of:I am in charge of the English-as-a-second-language department at a large southern California high school which is designated a Title 1 school, meaning that its students average lower socioeconomic and income levels.

Most of the schools you are hearing about, South Gate High, Bell Gardens, Huntington Park, etc. where these students are protesting, are also Title 1 schools.

Title 1 schools are on the free breakfast and free lunch program. When I say free breakfast, I'm not talking a glass of milk and roll -- but a full breakfast and cereal bar with fruits and juices that would make a Marriott proud. The waste of this food is monumental, with trays and trays of it being dumped in the trash uneaten. ( OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I estimate that well over 50% of these students are obese or at least moderately overweight. About 75% or more DO have cell phones . The school also provides day care centers for the unwed teenage pregnant girls (some as young as 13) so they can attend class without the inconvenience of having to arrange for babysitters or having family watch their kids.

(OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)

I was ordered to spend $700,000 on my department or risk losing funding for the upcoming year even though there was little need for anything; my budget was already substantial. I ended up buying new computers for the computer learning center, half of which, one month later, have been carved with graffiti by the appreciative students who obviously feel humbled and grateful to have a free education in America.(OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK)I have had to intervene several times for young and substitute teachers whose classes consist of many illegal immigrant students here in the country less than 3 months who raised so much hell with the female teachers, calling them "Putas" ( whores ) and throwing things , that the teachers were in tears.

Free medical, free education, free food, day care, etc, etc, etc. Is it any wonder they feel entitled not only to be in this country but to demand rights, privileges and entitlements?

To those who want to point out how much these illegal immigrants contribute to our society because they LIKE their gardener and housekeeper and they like to pay less for tomatoes: spend some time in the real world of illegal immigration and see the TRUE costs.Higher insurance, medical facilities closing, higher medical costs, more crime, lower standards of education in our schools, overcrowding, new diseases etc., etc, etc. For me, I'll pay more for tomatoes.

Americans, We need to wake up. The guest worker program will be a disaster because we won't have the guts to enforce it . Does anyone in their right mind really think they will voluntarily leave and return?It does, however, have everything to do with culture: A third-world culture that does not value education, that accepts children getting pregnant and dropping out of school by 15 and that refuses to assimilate, and an American culture that has become so weak and worried about “political correctness" that we don't have the will to do anything about it.

CHEAP LABOR? Isn't that what the whole immigration issue is about?

Business doesn't want to pay a decent wage.

Consumers don't want expensive produce.

Government will tell you Americans don't want the jobs.

But the bottom line is cheap labor. The phrase "cheap labor" is a myth , a farce, and a lie. There is no such thing as "cheap labor."

Take, for example, an illegal alien with a wife and five children. He takes a job for $5.00 or 6.00/hour. At that wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax, yet at the end of the year, if he files an Income Tax Return, he gets an " earned income credit" of up to $3,200 free.

He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent .

He qualifies for food stamps.

He qualifies for free (no deductible, no co-pay) health care.

His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school.

He requires bilingual teachers and books.

He qualifies for relief from high energy bills.

If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled , they qualify for SSI. Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare . All of this is at (our) taxpayer's expense .